Chapter Two: Busy Day

"Ease up you little monster, I saved your Daddy's life you know." The lab technician warned the culprit, who had stolen his phone right off the break room table in front of him. "C'mon, give it back." He complained, trying to pry their little fingers apart.

The little culprit growled at the grey haired man in annoyance, as he continued to pull away from his grip, with the stolen property in his hands. As the little monster of a boy dug his nails into the technician's hands, the man suddenly relinquished his grip, sending the boy toppling to the ground behind him.

"Ow, no wonder your own parents gave you up." He snarled at the boy, as he waved his throbbing hand about in agony.

"Hodges, what the hell are you doing?" An angry voice scolded him from the doorway. Hodges turned his head to face them, watching as they came rushing into the room to help the fallen boy to his feet. "He's a child, Hodges. You can't just push him over like that. Are you okay, sweetie?"

The little boy gave her a nod, rubbing his throbbing elbow from the fall to the rough carpet.

"I didn't push him, Simms." The man protested, then showed her the fingernail marks in the back of his hand. "It was a natural reaction to pain. He's got my phone." He whined.

Wendy Simms rolled her eyes at him, then knelt down in front of the small boy that looked just like Greg, giving him a smile as she looked at the phone in his hands. "Honey, could you please give me the rude man's phone back?" The culprit handed it over to the lady with the nice smile, then hurried towards the door and ran down the hall towards his father's office. "See, you just have to be nice to kids, and they're nice to you in return." Wendy smiled at Hodges, as she handed him his phone back. "Kids are very intuitive."

"Kids hate me, no matter how I react around them. Especially kids of Sanders." Hodges frowned up at her, before he checked his phone over for any scratches. "Why do Stokes and Sanders insist on bringing their zoo of a family here anyway? It's not a day care facility; this is an office of work."

Wendy laughed at him, rolling her eyes as she made her way over to the fridge to grab herself a bottle of water. "Technically, it's not day care if they've only been here an hour, Hodges. Their grandmother dropped them off earlier than usual, so the kids have to stay in the office for a while, until Nick or Greg are finished with their shift." She pointed out to him.

"Do you always have to defend them?" Hodges queried. "Seriously, ever since Stokes was involved in that stupid funeral bombing, you've been like a cheerleader to his cause."

"I have not." She protested.

"Have to." He childishly retorted. "You're always first in line to defend him."

"Well, he's been through a lot." Wendy defended him again, as she leant against the table beside Hodges. "He was shot, he had a break down and he's still trying to raise two children that haven't exactly had the best lives themselves. I'm not a cheerleader to his cause... I'm just... sympathetic towards him is all. He's a great guy and he really doesn't deserve the crap he's been put through."

"See, what did I tell you, a cheerleader to his cause." Hodges glared at her, climbing to his feet with his coffee in his hands. As soon as he stepped into the hallway though, another small person came hurtling towards him, spilling his hot coffee down his front. "OW!" He yelled.

"Opps, sorry Mr Hoovedge." She apologised in a sweet voice, with her big puppy dog eyes looking up at him.

"It's Hodges." He corrected her, fanning the hot shirt away from his chest. "Stop running around, you're supposed to be in your father's office. This is no place for children." He scolded her, then turned towards the men's bathroom to clean himself up a bit, from the coffee spillage down his new blue shirt that he had originally put on to try and impress a certain lady.

"Don't worry about him sweetie, he's just a grumpy old man." Wendy spoke softly, as she knelt down to the child's level. "C'mon AJ, let's go find your, Daddy." Reaching out her hand to her, Wendy smiled warmly as the little girl slid her hand into her own, giving her a sweet smile in return.

Wendy straightened up, then led the way down the hall, in search for her father, so she wouldn't be causing any more trouble for Hodges.


Popping the trunk of their victims car open, Nick cringed as the strong stench of decomp invaded his nostrils. Covering his mouth with the sleeve of the navy blue forensic overalls he was wearing, Nick pulled a flashlight from his pocket to take a look inside at the body that appeared to be bound and gagged. He coughed into his sleeve as he felt his stomach churning, then attempted to scrounge out any evidence from around the body, photographing and documenting his findings every step of the way.

"Hey, Nick." A voice called out to him from the doorway.

"Hmm?" Nick glanced up towards the lab tech, as he wiped the goo from his chin onto his sleeve.

"I ran the fingerprints of the guy you found in the driver's seat," Lab technician, Mandy Webster made her way towards him, with her results for him in hand. "His name is, Jacob Levine. Thirty two years old, no criminal record, but he's in the system because he's a doctor." She informed him, as she showed him the photocopy of his driver's licence that she had printed for him.

"Thanks." Nick smiled at her, then straightened up as he felt his shoulder starting to irritate him again. "Ah."

"You okay?" She gave him a curious look.

Nick nodded to her, holding his shoulder as he flexed his arm. "Is that everythin'?"

"Uh... yeah, I think so. Why was a doctor driving a stolen car, with a dead body in the trunk anyway?" Mandy asked him, taking another step towards the back to take a look inside. "Oh... is that," Covering her nose, Mandy glanced over her shoulder at Nick behind her. "Is that the owner of the car?"

"I don't know." He shrugged, as he sorted through the things he had found in the car. "Body's got no ID on it. And it's too decomposed to tell."

"Fingers are intact." She pointed out to him, then cringed as he handed her a pair of gloves. "Oh god, you're not gonna make me cut em off, are you? I usually wait for the coroner to do that part for me."

"Coroners backed up. It's a busy day." He informed her, taking a step closer to the trunk, unclipping the zip ties from around their victim's wrists.

"Isn't that... destroyin' evidence though?"

"You're not destroyin' evidence if we document it." He pointed out to her. "I just need to find out who this guy is, before I get outta here."

Mandy grabbed one of the evidence bindles off the table for him, turning her nose up from the smell, as she held it open for him to stuff the evidence inside. She watched him labelling it up, feeling a shiver running down her spine, as he reached for the hedge cutter like scissors to cut their DB's fingers off, so she could find out who he was.

"There you go." Nick smiled at her, as he handed her the little container with green fingers inside them.

"Thanks, you shouldn't have." Forcing a smile towards him, Mandy took the green fingers from his hands, struggling to hold down the vomit churning in her stomach, as she made her way back to her lab to process the fingers. "Hey, Greg." She greeted him on the way.

Greg gave her a smile in return, holding his cell phone firmly against his ear, listening to his mother on the other end. "No Mom, I told you... I don't want a big party, it's nothing to celebrate." Rolling his eyes as she refused to listen to him, Greg made his way off towards his office, not even noticing the children were missing from the spot he had sat them in just a few minutes ago. "Because... I don't like birthdays, you know I don't. I'm thirty six, big deal." Dropping into his leather chair, Greg rubbed his eyes as he leant as far back as the seat would allow him to go. "Okay Mom... but no party. I don't want any party."

"Get Out!" A voice suddenly echoed through the halls.

Greg let his chair spring back into an upright position to see what was going on, finally noticing the missing children from the table across the room. "Oh... Mom, I gotta go. I'll call you back later."

Snapping his phone shut, Greg let it fall to his desk as he scrambled to his feet and hurried down the hall towards Hodges' lab. The grumpy lab tech was forcing the giggling little monsters out of his lab, threatening to fill their juice boxes with hydrochloric acid, if they bothered him again.

"Sanders, there you are. Would you get these... wild animals out of here already? Ecklie may not be in today, but don't think I'm not going to tell him what you and Stokes have been doing with his lab." Hodges angrily warned him, as he folded his arms across his chest. "He has to know everything that goes on in this place, including the supposed day care you think we're running. You think Grissom would let you two get away with this?"

"Don't be such a kiss ass, Hodges." Greg glared at him. "I'm sorry if they caused you any problems; I'm taking them home in a few minutes though, so they'll be out of your way." He assured him, reaching out for his children's hands.

"Good, but I'm still telling Ecklie!" The kiss ass whined after him, watching Greg directing the children away from his lab, back to his office to get them out of everyone's way.

Hodges glanced round at the lab beside him as he felt someone watching him, noticing it was Wendy rolling her eyes at him yet again. Hodges frowned at her in return, then turned back to his lab to try and get on with some work.

"Here we go." Greg knelt down by the coffee table in the corner of his office, setting up some crayons and things to entertain the two menacing children. "Don't leave this office again, okay? I'll be back in ten minutes, twenty tops. Daddy just has to finish his work, before I can take you home."

"O-kay." Cooper agreed, while his sister leant back in her seat, sticking her thumb into her mouth.

"It's really boring in here." She complained.

"I know, right?" Greg smiled at her, then pecked a kiss to each of their foreheads. "I'll be right back, don't move." He winked at the both of them, before he hurried down to the coroner's office to collect the autopsy report from Doc Robbins.

"AJ, Daddy said to stay here." Cooper hissed at her.

AJ ignored her brother, climbing to her feet. She made her way over to the empty desk across the room, climbing into the much comfier seat behind her father's desk. AJ brushed her curious fingertips across the files stacked up on one side, the pens neatly ordered in the pen holder by colour, and the framed photos of their family organised by height.

Looking across the room at her other father's desk, AJ could see the unorganised stacks of paperwork lying across it, along with his dinosaur figures in any old order against the edge.

"You're not making a mess in here I hope." Catherine smiled into the office, as she spotted Nick's daughter sat at his desk. "You know how much your Daddy hates mess, young lady." AJ folded her arms across her chest, assuring her she wasn't touching anything. "Good girl." She winked at her. "Where are those Daddies of your then?"

"Daddy Greg said to stay here." Cooper spoke up, climbing to his feet to greet his Aunt Catherine.

"Hello, sweetheart." Catherine smiled at him, playfully ruffling her hand through his tousled hair. "I better go and tell that Daddy of yours to hurry up. It can't be much fun staying in here."

"It's not." AJ agreed, climbing off her father's chair. "Where's my Daddy?"

"Nicky? I think... he's still working." Catherine remembered seeing him in the garage, but that was no place for children. "Why don't you two come and sit with me for a minute?" She suggested, collecting up their colouring books and things. "I'm sure Greg will be back soon." Ushering the children through to her own office, she cleared a space on one side of her desk, setting down their colouring books, before she grabbed them a chair each. "There we go."


Making his way back towards the lab floor, Greg stopped as he spotted Wendy in the files room, in tears. He really had a lot of work left to do, but he couldn't just leave her now that he saw her. "Hey, Wendy." He spoke softly, taking a few steps closer towards her. "What's the matter?"

"Oh... Greg... nothing." Wendy attempted to dry her eyes on the damp Kleenex tissue in her hands, but the tears just continued to flow, making it harder to wipe away the evidence as her makeup started to smudge. "Really, it's nothing Greg, I'm fine." She assured him.

Not falling for her act, Greg reached into his pocket for the packet of Kleenex tissues he always kept in there, handing one of them over to Wendy to help her out. She smiled gratefully, before she wiped her eyes, giving out a strong sniffle, then looked back into his eyes.

"I just... I don't know if I can do this." Leaning back against the table behind her, Wendy sighed softly, deciding to fill Greg in on the details, "You know that Hodges and I have kinda been... seeing each other?" Greg gave her a slight nod. "Well, I don't really think it's working out. I decided to turn down the field position at the other lab to stay here for him... but now..."

"You're regretting it?" Greg finished her sentence, as he heard the tone in her voice. "I personally think you should have taken the job opportunity, because you really deserve the chance to work in the field, Wen." He assured her with a soft smile. "But actually, if the situation was reversed and I was given the job opportunity and I had to leave..."

"Nick." She presumed, giving him a wide smile. "You'd never do it, but you and Nick are great. One of you isn't a control freak who always worries about what his mother thinks. Neither of you are afraid of commitment and you're actually moving forward in your relationship, rather than backwards."

Anxiously biting his lower lip, Greg tried to give her a nod, even though her statement of them was false. Nick was a bit of a control freak, while he was the one always worrying about what his mother thought. They were both afraid of commitment; the furthest they had got to committing to each other was moving into the same house, with a child each.

The lawyers didn't think it was a good idea for them both to sign the adoption papers, as they weren't married, meaning they could split up anytime. Nick agreed with them, suggesting that Greg sign the adoption papers for Cooper, while the younger man bit his tongue, wondering if he really did have a future with the man who was worrying about custody over their children at this stage in their relationship.

"Well... we're not perfect, but yeah... we do kinda have a pretty good relationship. We have our ups and downs, just like most couples." He pointed out to her, thinking of their recent argument about the new house Nick had found. "But that doesn't mean that you can't, granted it's with Hodges, but you can't choose who you fall in love with."

"That's the nicest way you could have possibly put that, Greg." Wendy smiled up at him. "But see... here's the thing that's really got me down lately. I'm thirty seven... thirty eight at the end of the year, and I... well I want what most, you know... women want at my age."

Greg nodded to her, realising what she meant. "You really want that with Hodges though?"

"Well no... but I kinda," Placing one hand on her stomach, Wendy looked up at him as a tear rolled down her cheek and dropped off her chin onto her blouse. "It's too late. I'm pregnant, Greg."

"Holy... cow." Greg's jaw dropped, realising why she was so upset. "How do you know for sure, did you take a pregnancy test?"

"Yeah." Wendy sniffled, looking down at her hands in her lap. "I missed my period. I'm throwing up everywhere and my boobs are killing me. Plus I took like three boxes worth of pregnancy tests, just to be sure."

"Oh... well, that sounds pretty accurate." Feeling sorry for the lab tech on the verge of tears, again, Greg kept his mouth shut to stop himself from blurting any jokes he had brewing about her situation and took a step forwards to give her a hug. "I don't know whether to be happy or sad." He whispered against her neck, gently rubbing his palm across her back to sooth her.

"Neither do I." She admitted, grateful to have a friend like Greg in her life. "I can't tell Hodges, he hates kids. He'll completely freak out, and I couldn't bare him hating me." Wendy sniffled again, as she pulled back from the younger man's warm embrace. "How do you and Nick do it? I always thought guys were completely incompetent when it came to raising kids . . . mostly because my own father was. He never wanted kids. He never really did anything with us kids either. He was just the man in our house that we called Daddy, and he hated it."

"Well... we're not all completely incompetent." He smiled at her, handing her another tissue to wipe away her tears. "Plus it helps that Nicky has such a big heart. They are a lot of work for such small people, and ever since they came into our lives, I've really become quite the domestic. I cook, clean, shop, make beds... all sorts of things that I never used to do as a single man. But I really wouldn't want to live my life without them."

"I can't really picture you as the domestic sort."

"It's true, ask Nicky. Two years ago, I was a single guy, looking out for myself. I used to get home after work, put my feet up and have a cold beer before bed. Now, I have to get the kids ready for bed, clean the house, feed the dog, make sure Nicky and I have clean clothes for work and everything, before I finally go to bed."

"And you don't miss being single?"

"The being single part, no way." He shook his head. "But only having to look out for me, I do miss that. I still wouldn't trade this life for anything in the world. A part of me loves taking care of the people I love, but sometimes I miss that cold beer."

Wendy gave him a smile, then looked towards the door as she spotted Hodges walking by. "I really am in over my head here though. There's no way in hell that man would ever want to have a child, least of all with me."

"You could at least give him the chance to find out." Greg suggested. "Just because he's a kiss ass and socially awkward in all situations, doesn't necessarily mean that he hasn't at least thought about the concept of having children and being a father. Who wouldn't want to have kids with you? You're an amazing person, Wendy. You're beautiful, smart, kind... and you'll make a really great mother."

"Aww," Climbing to her feet, Wendy gave him a smile, wiping away her tears. "It's a pity you're gay, Greg." She smirked, pulling him into a hug. "Women have been searching for a man like you, all their lives."

Greg chuckled softly, pulling back from the hug. "Thank you. So, what are you gonna do?"

"Well... I guess I should try and find a way to tell Hodges about it, and hope he doesn't freak out on me." Tentatively touching one hand to her stomach, Wendy sighed, "Even if he doesn't want it, I think I really do. I might as well take my chances now; I'll be too old to try again in the future, right?"

Greg shook his head, placing his hand on his heart. "Well I personally think you look great."

"Aww . . . thank you, Greg. But please stop, you're just making me more depressed that I didn't try and meet a nice guy like you, before I fell for him." Wendy grinned at him, then grabbed her box of evidence off the table beside her and scored it away, like she had planned on doing before she got distracted by the nausea from the baby that was beginning to grow inside of her. "Thanks Greg, you're a big help."

"You're welcome." Watching her heading back to her lab, Greg's eyes slowly wandered across the hall towards where Nick was knelt down on the floor beside the car he was processing. He made his way across the hall towards him, pressing a kiss to the top of his soft head of hair.

"Aye, you know the rules, Greg." He warned the younger man, looking up at him. "No PDA's on the job or we have to switch shifts."

"Technically that's doesn't count a real kiss or a PDA though." Greg pointed out the lack of public, as he knelt down beside him, immediately reeling from his decomp scent. "Whew, you smell like crap, Tex."

"Thank you, I love you too, honey." He smirked, pulling another receipt from the glove compartment. "There was a decomposin' body in the trunk. David finally took it down to the morgue, but I haven't had a chance to shower yet, so the stench is still in here." Nick reached over Greg for his flashlight, clicking it on to take a deeper look inside the glove compartment. "What are you still doin' here anyway? I thought you were gonna take the kids home."

"Provided I finish my case, I can." Greg nodded to him. "See, I can't report to my assistant supervisor anymore, since I'm sleeping with him, because there's this whole dating clause that excludes me from talking to him about anything work related, unless we're on a case together. So I have to report to Catherine..."

"Is that your excuse? It's way past their bed time, Greg." Nick tapped his watch. "They'll never get up in time tomorrow at this rate."

"I know, it really doesn't show, but I know." Greg smiled back at him, then finished what he was saying, before Nick interrupted him, "Anyway as I was saying, Catherine said I can't go home until my case is finished, regardless of what my lover slash assistant supervisor says. So I better go finish up, and I'll see you at home later."

"Uh huh." Nick absently nodded to him, bagging a driver's licence.

"You know AJ probably won't go to bed without you in the house, Nicky." Greg pointed out to him.

"Well she'll have to get used to it now. I'm gettin' back into the routine of work. We can't keep her out of school for much longer either, she'll adjust to the old routine the same way she did before." The older man assured him, reaching under the seat, checking there wasn't anything under there. "What, you think I'm bein' too harsh? She's not clingin' to me as much as she did before. If we entertain her constant need, she'll get addicted like a drug addict."

"I know, I know. And no, you're not being too harsh. I just forget that your methods of parenting are very different to mine that I learnt from my mother."

"If your mother had it her way, AJ's separation anxiety would only get worse, then we'd have more trouble on our hands, G." Nick reached for another evidence bindle, as he looked into Greg's eyes. "Do you want her to move onto constant bed wettin' and screamin' at the school gates like my sister's kid used to do?"

"No, but she's not the only one worrying about losing you, Nicky." The man who had been hiding most of his own anxieties about his partner's recent near death experience, bravely told him. "I love you. Don't overdo it, baby." He warned him, leaning forwards to press a kiss to his temple. "The doctor said to take it easy on that shoulder, and he meant it. Don't go aggravating those tender muscles."

"Because that's your job, huh?" Nick teased him.

"Only if you ask me to." Greg gently ruffled a hand through his partner's hair, before he climbed to his feet, leaving Nick to concentrate on his work.

Greg passed by Wendy's lab on route to the trace lab, noticing she wasn't as upset as before, but her face was all scrunched up, staring across the hall towards Hodges, wondering how she was going to tell him about the baby she had growing inside of her.

"Hey Hodges, you got my results yet?" He asked, stepping up to his desk. Hodges blankly glanced up at him, then rifled through the pile of files beside him, searching for the one for Greg's case. "So, what can you tell me about it?" Greg queried, expecting Hodges to give him a whole report on it.

Hodges remained completely silent though, just slapping the results into Greg's awaiting palm. Without a second glance, the older man whirled around to get back to work on some more of the evidence that was beginning to pile up on his desk, as he had been dealing with the Stokes-Sanders' little monsters for the first part of his shift.

"O-kay." Greg opened the file in his hands, taking a look for himself. He frowned as he scanned his eyes across the results, giving the lab tech a confused look, "No gunshot residue on either of them, and you can't identify the substance I gave you?"

"Read the report, I sent it to tox." Hodges pointed out to him. "Goodbye... thief." He muttered, as Greg turned for the door.

"Huh?"

"Nothing, I didn't say anything." Hodges shook his head at him, then waited for him to leave, before he muttered, "Slut," under his breath, causing Greg to look round at him surprised again. What Greg didn't know was that Hodges had seen Greg hugging his woman, making him angry with pure jealousy.

Greg remained oblivious to it though, as he made his way off towards Henry's lab, finally getting the results he needed to close his case. He quickly checked on his children, worrying as his office was empty again.

"They're in here." Catherine called across the hall, ushering the younger man towards her. "Leave your case and go home, Greg. I've told you twice already."

"I just finished." Handing her the files from his hands, Greg started to explain, "I was just waiting for my results from Hodges, but he sent..."

"Greg, go home." She interrupted him, setting the case file on the side of her desk. "I'm serious. Take these tired little ones off home, and I'll see you later." His supervisor insisted, giving him a smile. "Goodnight." She waved to the children.

"G'night, Aunt Catherine." They replied, jumping down from their seats.

Greg quickly collected up their colouring books and things, leading the two of them back to his office, so he could get their coats on. "Is Daddy coming?" AJ immediately asked, standing still so Greg could zip her jacket up.

"Not right now, baby. He still has to work." Greg pulled Nick's baseball cap down over AJ's head, then grabbed for Cooper's wrist, stopping him from running in circles, howling like an Indian. "You need to calm down, mister." He warned the wired little boy. "It's way past your bed time."

"I'm not tired." Cooper wriggled out of his arms, not wanting his jacket on. "Let me go." He protested, immediately bursting into giggles, as Greg tickled his tummy. "No, Daddy! Daddy!" He struggled in his arms, making it harder for Greg to put his coat on for him.

"I can't believe that my mother thinks I was just like you." The man smirked, pressing a kiss to Cooper's head, once he had calmed down. "You're a little terror, aren't you?" He tickled him again, making Cooper squirm. "C'mon then, I better get you two home to bed." He reached out for their hands, leading them off to the elevator.

Cooper clutched his hand a little tighter as the doors slid shut, staring up at the numbers above them, as they slowly counted down to the bottom floor. He gulped hard as they opened up to the eerie looking parking lot, where monsters could hide in any of the shadowy corners.

"No, Daddy." He protested, as the man took a step out of the elevator, trying to pull him along with him. "Carry me." Cooper held his arms out to him, staying inside the elevator until his father picked him up.

Seeing no other choice, Greg lifted Cooper into his arms, leading the way towards his car. He strapped Cooper in first, before he turned to lift AJ, catching her eyes looking towards Nick's truck. "Daddy will be home later, Munchkin." He whispered, strapping her into her seat. "I'll get him to give you a big kiss when he comes in." He assured her, pecking a kiss to her forehead.

After double checking that they were both strapped in, Greg climbed into the front seat, driving them all off home.


Pulling the car up into the driveway of the home he shared with his partner, Greg turned the radio off, wound the windows up then turned off the engine, before he reached through the middle of the seats to unbuckle the kids. "When's Daddy coming home?" AJ immediately asked, jumping out of Greg's car onto the curb.

"Daddy, my plaster lost its sticky." Cooper held up his injured elbow, showing him the peeling bandage.

"I'll getcha another one inside, buddy." Greg unlocked the front door of their house, ushering them both inside, then returned to the car to lock it up. He grabbed the post then kicked the front door shut with his foot, dropping everything from his hands onto the side table. "AJ, shoes off. Daddy won't want mud on his carpets." He warned her, before he hurried off into the kitchen to grab Cooper another plaster.

"My laces are too tight." She complained, dropping onto her bottom on the floor, struggling to untie her shoes. "Daddy! They're too tight."

"Hang on, one second." Greg hurried back to them with a fresh plaster in his hands, letting Cooper hold it, while he helped AJ with her laces. "Damn, they are tight. Who did these?"

"Uncle Brass. He didn't want me to fall over."

"Thoughtful of him." Greg thought out loud, finally prying the shoes from her feet. "Hey, don't pick it, Coop."

"I wasn't." Cooper protested, moving his fingers away from the scab he had just been picking at. He watched Greg carefully arranging their shoes by the door, before he held the plaster out to him, waiting for him to put it on his elbow.

"There you go. Now go and getcha pyjamas on, brush your teeth and I'll be there in a minute to tuck you both in." He instructed the both of them, sending them off towards their bedroom.

"When's Daddy coming home?" AJ asked him again, as he had ignored her the first time.

"He'll be back before you know it, baby." Greg assured her, locking the door into place. "Go getcha pyjamas on and brush your teeth."

Cooper and AJ reluctantly hurried off to their room to get ready for bed, leaving Greg to flip through the post and listen to the five phone messages from his mother about the birthday party he didn't want, before he could finally let Dallas in and give her some food and water, noticing she looked even more exhausted then him today.

The black Labrador lazily picked at her food, then crashed straight onto her bed, exhausted from the walk their neighbour Dawn took her on just a few hours ago. Her belly looked about ready to pop at any moment, but the puppies were taking their sweet time to get out and face the outside world, making their poor mother very uncomfortable.

Greg hurried off into the kids bedroom once he was done, just as they were hurrying out of the bathroom and diving under their covers, so they wouldn't get in trouble as it was already well past their bed time.

AJ reached for her bunny, Bugsy, tucking him under her arm, before she asked, "Daddy, do we get a story?"

"Not tonight, it's too late already and I'm too tired to read." He gave her a smile, as he gently tugged the bands from her hair, letting her braided pigtails down while she slept. "I'll give you two stories tomorrow to make up for it though." He assured her, as he tucked the covers around her.

"Promise?" She asked, placing her hands over the top of her pink covers.

"Cross my heart." He crossed his heart with his index finger then winked at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "G'night, Munchkin." Greg gave her a wide smile, then crawled over to the other bed on his knees, picking up the dirty clothes on the way to tuck his son into bed. "G'night, Buckaroo."

Cooper smiled at the familiar nickname, then closed his eyes as Greg pressed a kiss to his head, tucking him in too. "G'night, Daddy." He whispered.

"G'night. I love you two very much."

"I love you too!" AJ called from her bed.

"I love you too." Cooper copied his sister.

Greg smiled at them both, then collected up the rest of the dirty clothes on the floor, before he climbed to his feet, making his way off towards the door to turn the lights off. Leaving the door half open so they could sleep, Greg smiled as they immediately settled down, like perfect little angels. He dumped the laundry into the hamper outside of his and Nick's rooms, then turned into his own room, getting ready for bed himself.

Nick didn't return home for another few hours, as he was still on the night shift, while Greg was temporarily filling in for swing shift. Nick was greeted at the door by his sleepy lab, Dallas, who enjoyed a soft head scratch from her master, before she crawled back into bed, laying with her tummy sunny side up, as it was the only way she could get comfortable with the puppies in her belly.

He flipped through the post left on the side, before he turned towards his children's bedroom, checking they were both asleep. He carefully moved Cooper's arm back under the covers, touching a kiss to his forehead, before he moved over to his daughter's bed, finding his baseball cap tucked under her arm, along with her bunny.

He gently brushed her hair back behind her ear, before he pressed a kiss to her forehead, wishing her sweet dreams. He checked on Cooper again before he left the room, double checking that Greg had already locked up all the windows and doors.

He managed to grab a shower back at the lab, so he could quickly shed his clothing into the laundry hamper, then crawl into bed with his snoozing lover, spooning his partner's warm body tightly against him, as he too drifted off to sleep after another long days work.

He knew it was the weekend tomorrow, which signalled a day of rest for most people, but with two hyperactive children and Greg in the house, it didn't seem like a day off at all.


There's chapter two, hope you liked it. Please let me know what you thought!

Have a great weekend!

~ Holly